Comedian Steve Harvey talks about politics and his motivation to bring unity to American people.
On Friday 13th, 2017, comedian Steve Harvey met with Trump at his Manhattan’s residence on the 5th Avenue in New York City. His meeting was facilitated by both Obama’s and Trump’s transition teams.
“It was a really cool meeting in the beginning. We talked a lot about golf and things like that and people we knew and people in common and then we got down to the crux of it, said the comedian.
Steve Harvey felt that he had a responsibility to the community he serves to try to be a voice and speak on some issues. “They’ve heard me, they know where I stood on the election. Nothing’s changed. But we gotta talk. And I thought he was a great guy. You know, we really had a nice conversation,” said the “Family Feud” host.
Harvey revealed that President-elect Trump introduced him to Ben Carson who is now the new head of housing for urban development. “We’ve gotta team up and see if we can bring about some positive change in the inner cities which I felt was my only agenda and he agreed and he wants to do something. And he realizes that he needs some allies in that department. And he seemed really sincere about it,” said Harvey.
Together, they will be focusing on Chicago and possibly Detroit, the hometown of Carson. ” I want to do some things from all of the major inner cities to see if we can bring about some change and help some of these young people out. So that’s why I’m here and it was a successful meeting and he seemed really sincere,” said Harvey.
In The Conversation with the press pool, Harvey talks about politics and his motivation to bring unity to American people.
Is this your jump in politics?
It’s not my jump into politics, I ain’t gonna pass a background check. It’s just me following orders from my friend, President Obama, who said Steve, you gotta, as he told everyone, get out from behind your computer, stop tweeting and texting, and get out there and sit down and talk. So I stepped from behind my microphone and I came and talked to the guy that is going to be the 45th president of the United States. I did what I was supposed to do.
How your meeting with President-elect Trump came about?
The transition team from President Obama and the transition team from Donald Trump got me on the phone about a week or so ago.
Will you be here for the Inauguration?
No, I’ll be turning 60 on Tuesday and my wife is taking me far away. So I won’t be at anyone’s inauguration because my wife’s taking me far away.
How about having Trumps on “Family Feud”?
Trumps being on family feud? [laughs] Yeah, against the Obamas? That’ll be good. Or how bout the Clintons? If I could set it up it would be skyrocketing for the ratings.
I’m handling everything pretty good. Of course, it was an honor to be invited to talk and I think that’s the only way that was gonna unify our country. We gotta talk. President Obama said you’ve got to sit down and talk. And I really enjoyed the conversation, he seemed really sincere. He’s a genuine person when you meet him.
Do you still have concerns about anything?
For this, we got off to a great start. I think it could be the beginning of something. For them to invite me here to talk about a specific problem and thought that I might be able to help, I know I got a big radio show, I got a lot of people listening every morning.
I’ve always been concerned about inner city problems because there’s huge, my mentoring program has been a part of this type of, that’s what I want to see happen. And they were spot on with it. And Ben Carson got on the phone, I met with him over the phone today, but I sat with President-Elect Trump and we laughed a little bit. I ain’t been laughing that much over the past few days. They’re kinda beating me up on the internet right now for no reason. But that’s life.
What did you laugh over?
Well, we talked about golf. We laughed about my score in golf, his score in golf, we talked about some of the friends we have in common. Mark Burnett. We talked about TV shows. Things like that. He’s a fan. So he’s seen it. I met his daughter, she was very sweet. So I think we’re off to a good start.
Do you have any doubt about Trump’s administration views about race?
Well look you don’t kill it with one conversation, but you can start it with the conversation. So a lot of what people say, now, well, its time to see what you do. So he said he wanted to do something. And you can’t beat better than that. So, we’re gonna see. I’ve been put in contact with Ben Carson which was great, I spoke with him. And so, we’re gonna get some things started, and they have a plan for the inner cities but they need help. And so, that’s why they called me. So we’ll see what I can do.
Do you support Jeff Sessions?
I don’t like commenting on stuff I don’t really understand or know about. I’m not a politician, to be honest with you. I’m hoping that these people can straighten it all out. I want to just get in there and just do my share. I had a good conversation in there, so moving forward, it ought to be good. So I appreciate y’all.
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